It was the Canadian Tire money of its day - sometwo centuries ago.

Avid coin collector George Manz points to two wellpreserved playing cards. On their face, theylook like nothing more than a 10 of diamonds and a seven of clubs.

"They're priceless," said Manz, manning his table at the Regina Coin Club'sfall show on Sunday.

That's because if you flip those cards over, there's some inky scrawl written on theback and a date, on the clubs, of 1778.

The playing card money was a highlight of this weekend's show, said Manz, clubpresident.

At a time when hard currency could be in short supply, some enterprising merchant in what'snow Quebec made his own with playing cards. It's believed one of the cards was good for thepurchase of a bottle of rum, the other for a pint of rum.

Manz, who often digs into the history books to learn more about his collection, said playingcard money in what would become Canada began in the late 1600s when it was used to pay the troopsin New France. The ships carrying real currency were sometimes delayed. The playing cards fit thebill until the real stuff arrived so the troops had spending money. Given the high illiteracy ratesof the day, the cards were often cut in half or quarters to symbolize varying denominations.

Manz bought his two cards at an auction in Toronto. He's since shown them to experts inCanada and the U.S. "They have never seen anything like these," Manz said proudly."They're extremely rare."

They weren't the only unique find on display.

Ever hear of the Moose Jaw-based Bank of Saskatchewan?

In this next-year country, a group of Moose Jaw businessmen believed in 1912 that it would be agoing concern, so had proofs made for the money.

They had to come up with $250,000 - which they hoped to raise through shares - to put in trustin order to get government approval.

To boost the sale of shares, the wannabe bankers displayed proposed bank notes in several storewindows on Main Street. But not enough people were buying.

The displayed bank notes were optimistically dated May 1, 1913.

"A lot of people lost money," said Manz, noting the shares sold for $100 a piece.

Manz owns the only known tintype mirror proofs for the $20 Bank of Saskatchewan note thatwasn't to be, while Gatewest Coin Ltd., of Winnipeg, had the approval proofs for the bills ondisplay.

"It was artwork back then," noted Gatewest employee Christopher Porco. The $10 billhas a beautifully detailed scene of railway construction, while the $20 bill shows the bustlingMoose Jaw rail yards. In 1913, the aspiring bank project collapsed, and its fate was sealed thenext year.

"World War 1 came and wiped everyone out," he noted.

In 1935, currency was standardized - all issued by the Bank of Canada.

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Cardsand currency capture history(www.leaderpost.com/life/Cards+currency+capture+history/10306371/story.html)